Peters



(No Model.)

o. P. RITGHBL. LAWN MOWER.

Patented May 8, 1888.

Nrrnn STATES CHARLES F. RITCHEL, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO J. A. BURKE, OF NEW YORK COUNTY, NEW `YORK.

LAWN-MOWER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 382,388, dated May 8, 1888.

Application led Api il 2l, 1887.

To all whom, it may concern.-

. Beit known that I, CHARLES; F. RITCHEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridge, port, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lawn-Mowers; and I do hereby declarethe following to be afull, clear, and cXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in lawn-mowers, and has for its object to provide a machine of this description which shall be cheap and simple in itsconstruction and not liable to get out of order; and with these ends in view my invention consists in the details of construction hereinafter set forth, and then recited in the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may fully un derstand its construction and operation, I will describe the same in detail, referring by figures to the accompanying drawings, which form apart ofthis specification, andin which- Figure l is a side elevation of my machine, the train of gearing being shown in dotted lines; Fig. 2, an elevation taken at the angle of the line x as, Fig. l, in the direction of the arrow, the handle being removed from the socket,one of the driving-wheels being shown inV section,and one of the blades being broken away to show the edge of the stationary cutter; and Fig. 3, a detail plan View of the sta` tionary cutter.

. Similar figures of reference indicate like parts in both views;

l is the cutter shaft, which is journaled in the yoke-shaped frame 2 of the machine, and

3 are the rotary cutters, which are secured,

.of which has its blades arranged in the form of a section of a'left-hand spiral. rThe ends of said cutters abut at the longitudinal center ofthe cutter-shaft, as seen at Fig.2. The blades Serial No. 235,647. (No model.)

have at all points the same sweep from the rendered less liable to clog than it otherwise would be.

4 is a gear secured on the shaft I, and 5 are the driving-wheels, journaled near the ends of said shaft. One of the driving-Wheels is internally geared at 6. y

`7 is apinionjournaledl in one of the arms of the yoke-shaped frame and arranged to mesh with the internal gear-teeth, 6,'whereby said pinion is driven, and also with an idlegear, 8, alsojournaled in the arm of the yoke, and meshing in its turn with the gear 4 on the stationary cutter-shaft.

9 is the stationary cutter, which is secured to the transverse body portion of the yoke by screws 10, which pass through slots in said stationary cutter and are threaded into the metal of the yoke. The forward or impinging edge of the stationary cutter is perfectly straight and parallel to the axis of the cuttershaft. This renders the said stationary cutter adjustable, so that it may be caused to engage properly with the edges of the rotary cutters and any wear may be compensated for.

12 is the handle, which is socketed inthe rear side of the frame.

The operation of myinvention is as follows: Then the machine is pushed forward by means of the handle,the revolution of the internallygeared driver, through the gears 4, 7, and 8, transmits a forward rotation to the cuttershaft and cutter.

In the manufacture of small machines I find that a single set of driving devices is sufficient for all practical purposes; but in machines of wider draft I prefer to drive from both Wheels by a duplication of the mechanism shown at Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a lawn-mower, the combination, with the straight-ed ged stationary cutter adjustably secured to the lower portion of the frame, of the rotary cutters arranged upon the cuttershaft and adapted to impinge against the stationary cutter,said rotary cutters being made, the one in the form of a section of a righthand spiral and the other in the form of a left-hand spiral, the ends of said cutters being arranged to abut at the center of the cutter'- shaft, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the yoke shaped frame, of the shaftjournaled in the ends thereof and carrying the cutters7 which latter are made, the one in the shape of a section of a right-hand spiral and the other in the shape 

